Sunday, July 13, 2008

Well folks, Cathy at Noble Pig is having a blogging event to satisfy her obsession with potatoes. Now, it seems, that the third Wednesday of every month will be Potato Ho Down Wednesday for Cathy and several of her Potato-Ho friends. (And yes, I’m cracking up because they are self-proclaimed Potato Hos.)

Unfortunately, I’m am a potato slacker because July 14th is the last day to enter for this month; but you can see the results at Noble Pig on Wednesday July 16th! (Heck, if you’re a true potato ho, you’ll probably fix a potato dish tonight AND Monday, so you can just snap a pic and enter one of those dishes! If not, there’s always the third Wednesday of August.)

I made these potato skins for the first time last New Years Eve. I have to warn you, they are highly addictive! Normal potato skins are resistible, but the spiced oil that you brush on these babies makes them utterly irresistible.

And before you read the recipe name and question my sanity, you need to question the sanity of the folks over at Noble Pig because it is a requirement that you use your official “ho name” to name your dish, and I’m not one to buck the system! (In case you were wondering, your “ho name” can be found by combining your pet’s name and your middle name.)

And so, I present to you…

Daisy Elaine’s Tater Skins
8 servings
6 WW Points per potato half

4potatoes, scrubbed and baked (I nuke mine.)

3 Tbsvegetable oil (Evoo is too strong. I use canola.)

1 Tbsgrated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tspsalt

1/4 tspgarlic powder

1/4 tsppaprika(Smoked is really good.Regular works fine.)

1/8 tsppepper

1/4 cupbacon bits (Soy works fine.)

2 cups (8 ounces)shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cupsour cream

4green onions, sliced (Or use some of those chives that’ve been taking over your herb garden.)

Cut baked potatoes in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the pulp. (Leave 1/4-inch shell.)

Place on a sprayed baking sheet.

In a small bowl, mix the oil, Parm, salt, garlic powder, paprika and pepper and brush all over the skins inside and out.

Bake them cut side up at 475° for about 8 minutes and turn them over.

Bake them for another 8 minutes or so and then turn them right side up again.

Sprinkle the bacon and cheddar on the inside of the cup part.

Bake a couple of minutes longer until the cheese is melty.

Top with sour cream and onions/chives.

(Feel free to leave off the sour cream and onions if you don’t like them. Or feel free to go nuts and put whatever you want on the nekkid skins. I think taco stuff might be good. Or maybe even chopped, steamed broccoli and cheese or something. They’re your skins, it ain’t none of my business what you wanna do with them!) 😉

I would also be remiss if I didn’t pimp my own Blogging Event! I’m having a picnic for my birthday, and you’re invited! Just bring some sort of pot-luck, pitch-iny kind of dish! Click here for details!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

My birthday is tomorrow, July 9th.(Let’s not worry about the silly math problem of how old it makes me, let’s just consider me one year cuter.) 😉

Because it’s my birthday, I’d like to have a party–and you’re all invited!

I’ve always wanted to do a blogging event, so I thought I’d exploit my birthday for just that purpose. Besides, who doesn’t love a picnic? (Especially when I can guarantee that you won’t get any poison ivy or bug bites as a result!)

So here’s the deal–I would LOVE it if you would cook up a dish to bring to my picnic to share as a post. It can be anything you want that you would actually bring as a covered dish to a pot luck, pitch-in, or whatever you call it in your neck of the woods. (You don’t even have to worry about being assigned a category like main dish, drinks, sides, desserts, etc. because those things always seem to work themselves out anyway.)

On your post please include a link to this announcement, say that your post is part of this event and that the event results will be July 28th. Heck, you can even copy and post a copy of the invitation if you want to! (There’s no such thing a party crasher when you’re inviting everybody anyway.)

Then email me at Shaye3333 at yahoo dot com and tell me:

Your name (the name you want to appear on the roundup post)

Your blog’s name

The URL that links back to your picnic party post

The name of your dish, a picture of the dish, and a very short description of the dish that I can post with the picture

Also, just for giggles, tell me what you like to at a picnic for fun. Are you croquet people? Or are you more casual frisbee people? Is touch football more your speed? Or do you like to picnic at the beach and then go looking in tide pools? I’d love to know how you’d spend time at your ideal picnic!!

(By the way, if you don’t have a food blog, that’s ok, too! You can still email me with a picture of your dish and everything except your blog info.)